European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group

Transparency of results a priority after disputed Honduras vote

Marisa Matias MEP at the EOM Press Conference in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday 28th November 2017

GUE/NGL MEPs taking part in the election monitoring process in Honduras have called for calm and greater transparency in the election aftermath, to avoid doubts about the legitimacy of the vote.

Sunday’s election result is currently being disputed with both the incumbent and his main opposition rival claiming victory for the presidency.

The Honduran electoral commission has only revealed partial results from the national count - with the full results not expected until later this week, possibly on Thursday.

In the official press conference yesterday, Marisa Matias MEP – the EU’s Chief Observer for Sunday’s elections - has called for greater transparency from the country’s Supreme Electoral Court following the vote:

“After two days of not announcing any new results, the Supreme Electoral Court must establish clearer channels of communication and release more partial results to the public - just as they had done for the election in 2013.”

“This would help to guarantee peace and stability amongst all the main actors in Honduras, and to avoid any uncertainty,” explained the Portuguese MEP.

During the press conference, the EU Election Observation Mission members also noted that although the election campaign was largely peaceful, their mission had recorded instances of violence against candidates and activists from different parties.

Similarly, ‘invasive strategies’ for voter recruitment inside polling stations had also been detected.

GUE/NGL’s Lola Sánchez Caldentey, also in Honduras as part of the European Parliament’s delegation, said:

“It is strange how something like the balloting and vote recount system - which the government has been bragging a lot about - is giving such slow results and with such negligence.”

“We don’t understand why it’s taken more than four days to recount the presidential vote. The only possible explanation is due to political obstruction in delaying the publishing of the full results,” she added.